Several years ago, I realized that keeping up with the legislature would require more than a shared Google Sheet. A spreadsheet doesn’t notice when a bill changes, and that’s a big problem. But, like so many other grassroots organizations that try to keep up with legislation, it was cheap with no barrier to entry — so we persisted.
One day, the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and asked a simple question: “Why aren’t you using the talents I’ve given you?”
But I am, I thought. Look at all the work we’ve done, the things we’ve accomplished, and the good we’ve achieved. This work takes an analytical mind, and we’ve engaged fully. We’ve exposed corruption where no one else was looking. We’ve read and explained legislation, Legislative Auditor reports, Board of Ethics decisions, budgets, audits, and meeting minutes to our supporters for years.
But the question still nagged at me. What talent had I left on the table?
Louisiana Vote-Recs
I’ve been a programmer since turning thirteen. Surprisingly, programming has a lot in common with legislating. A programmer writes code to change how a computer operates; a legislature writes bills to change how government operates. Public policy may reward an analytical mind, but it isn’t programming. And computer programming is apparently a rare skill in this space. So, I set out to identify any gaps that my programming talents could help solve.
The first public version of our legislative tracking assistant was launched with support from the State Freedom Caucus Network. Not only did they chip in to help keep the lights on, but their Louisiana Director, Connie Hair, also provided necessary feedback and suggestions to improve it. Her work required intensive manual research and writing detailed summaries to help caucus members understand every bill filed during the legislative session. Together, we cobbled together the Louisiana Vote-Recs system. She said it dramatically reduced her clerical workload, allowing her to focus more on policy while continuing to provide caucus members with up-to-the-minute information they could read and share with other lawmakers.
The first version was short of what I’d even call a proof of concept. Still, we had a handful of other organizations that participated in making their public positions available in a unified platform. Surprisingly, even legislators not in the Freedom Caucus began using it. One committee chairman even remarked, “Now, before we even cast a vote, I can see what will get me in trouble later. That sure beats hearing about it when it’s too late — like at a chamber of commerce luncheon weeks after session is over.”
Version 2 and the Oklahoma Proof of Concept
In January of 2026, we officially launched the StateLens project across state lines. It took a lot of work to separate the hardcoded Louisiana logic from the system. That diligence paid off in what became a surprisingly big success in Oklahoma. For the first time, we also had several national conservative groups participating. Those included Moms for Liberty, Eagle Forum, and American Family Association. Oklahoma also answered an important question we couldn’t answer in Louisiana: Had we built a Louisiana tool, or a model that could work anywhere?
Charlie Misseijer, the national Director of Policy & Legislative Affairs at Moms for Liberty, commented, “We’re so happy w/StateLens. Thank you! Are you currently working on any other states?” During and after session, compliments kept pouring in. You can read other participant comments on the StateLens Oklahoma project page. And while we’ve known it was happening in Louisiana, one of Oklahoma’s senators also said she uses StateLens as part of her daily planning routine.
It’s one thing for a grassroots platform to tell you that legislators pay attention to their work. It’s something else entirely for legislators to say not only that they see it, but they use it every day during a legislative session.
Version 3 Welcomes Texas, Georgia, and Maryland
Although it’s only been a few months, we’ve come a long way since we launched v2 in Oklahoma. We’ve now had a full session to learn how the system works in another state and to identify dozens of improvements. That knowledge has become v3. I’m personally very excited that our small Louisiana-based nonprofit has, seemingly by accident, created a legislative planning and tracking model that works in other states.
As a longtime member of the Council for National Policy, I’ve sometimes felt insignificant in the glow of so many prominent national figures. I’ve frequently wondered what value a small, state-based transparency organization in Louisiana could offer to such a group. Years went by without an answer. Then, as if orchestrated from above, a seemingly minor annoyance provided us with StateLens.
A Game Changer
Again and again, people who’ve used the platform have called it a game-changer. That includes people you’d expect, like grassroots users, policy wonks, and even conservative lobbyists. But it also includes several groups of people I never expected: statewide elected officials and the lawmakers themselves. They have been using the system for big things, like whipping votes and holding caucuses together during a scattered, fast-moving legislative session. Equally surprising, some lawmakers outside of the caucuses have even been using the system as their session daytimer.
Legislative sessions create a bubble around the people inside them. From the outside, the process can seem painfully slow. Inside the Capitol, it moves at an eyewatering pace. Every moment is consumed by what comes next: the next committee, amendment, caucus meeting, floor vote, or negotiation. There’s little time for town halls or constituent calls, much less scrolling social media to discover what people outside the building think about tomorrow’s vote.
StateLens pierces that bubble. Grassroots organizations and policy groups can put their positions directly into the same system lawmakers and caucus staff already use to plan their legislative day. Suddenly, political intelligence that once depended on lobbyists, personal relationships, or time lawmakers don’t have is sitting alongside the legislation itself. It skips the line the lobbyists are standing in—no steak dinners required.
Making it Easier for Conservatives to Work Together
The thought of so many different, completely disconnected groups working together to further conservative principles is something no one thought was possible. We’ve all heard the saying: “The conservative movement is like herding cats.” And yet I find myself smiling at the accidental success of an incredible experiment-turned-platform.
If you’ve been a friend and supporter of our work, thank you. This is your success, too. Without your prayers and financial support, we might never have reached this point. And bringing our talents to bear in other states doesn’t mean we’re any less committed to finally fixing Louisiana—quite the opposite.
If you haven’t been part of this mission yet, it’s not too late to get started. As StateLens reaches new states and we continue our work here at home, your support helps us build what comes next.
Several years ago, I wondered what talent I had left on the table. Today, StateLens is beginning to answer that question in places I never imagined it would go. It turns out the Lord knew what He was talking about.
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Facts First. Even When They’re Inconvenient.
Some outlets or groups tell you what to think. Others have discovered there’s an easier way to build an audience: tell people exactly what they want to hear. We’ve chosen a harder path.
At Citizens for a New Louisiana, we start with the evidence — public records, financial disclosures, court filings, voting records, audits, and original documents — and follow it wherever it leads. Sometimes the facts confirm what we expected. Sometimes they surprise us. Sometimes they disappoint our friends. Either way, we publish them.
That approach doesn’t always produce the loudest headlines or the easiest fundraising. But over time, it produces something much more valuable: TRUST. If you value independent Louisiana journalism that puts evidence ahead of outrage and principle ahead of tribe, please help us continue the work.
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